social services

We did a show on KNPR’s State of Nevada, looking at the ballooning need for social services in Nevada. The state’s unemployment rate recently hit 13.2% (it’s higher in Las Vegas). Tens of thousands of people have lost their homes. The state’s Health and Human Services Department estimates that by 2013, 1 in 5 Nevadans will be on food stamps.

So, if the boom times are gone, what can we learn from cities that faced a similar decline years ago? On this edition of State of Nevada, we talked with the dynamic, young mayor of Youngstown, Ohio, Jay Williams. Williams shared some of the things he’s been trying to accomplish in Youngstown, a city that’s been declining since the steel mill heyday of the 50’s and 60’s.

Smaller is better? Jay Williams says yes. Listen to Mayor Williams offer a little advice to Oscar Goodman, and to the rest of our show, here:

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For the time, in close to three decades, the Social Security will be compelled to dole out more in benefits than it collects in taxes during the next coupe of years.

The reason is huge job losses and an increase in the early retirement claims from laid-off people. For the time, in close to three decades, the Social Security will be compelled to dole out more in benefits than it collects in taxes during the next coupe of years.

The reason is huge job losses and an increase in the early retirement claims from laid-off people.

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BELONGINGLASVEGAS.ORG…

...was created by independent producer Adam Burke, as an online lily pad for stories about people living in southern Nevada. Belonging Las Vegas is a collaboration between Adam Burke and Nevada Public Radio. The project started out as a series of radio stories documenting community life in southern Nevada.

This time around, we're bringing you voices and faces: how people, families, and neighborhoods are faring in the worst economic downtown in Las Vegas' hundred year history. It's a story of hardship and challenge to be sure, but also one of generosity, innovation and reckoning.